Topline: Zepbound Is Approved for Sleep Apnea Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company that won FDA approval last year for its weight-loss drug Zepbound, scored a big win Friday when the agency approved the drug as the first prescription medication for sleep apnea.
Important Information
Eli Lilly reported in a press statement that adults diagnosed with “moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea and obesity” are now eligible to receive a medication called Zepbound for better sleep.
The Food and Drug Administration approved prescribing Zepbound to overweight or obese adults in November 2023.
In contrast to those who received a placebo, adults who used Zepbound lost an average of 45 pounds and experienced about 25 fewer breathing disruptions per hour as they slept, according to an Eli Lilly announcement.
According to the National Council on Aging, some common symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea include loud snoring, gasping for air during sleep, dry mouth, and daytime tiredness, a common disorder that occurs when the upper airway is obstructed while you sleep.
Get Breaking News from Forbes Text Alerts: To be sure you are always on top of the most significant news driving the headlines of the day, we will be offering text message alerts. Click here or text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739.
Big Number
39 million. That’s about how many American adults have obstructive sleep apnea, according to the.
Key Background
Zepbound is a GLP-1 receptor agonist that is a class of medication used in the treatment of diabetes and weight loss. It acts by inhibiting appetite, thereby reducing blood sugar and A1C. The third drug approved for weight loss was Zepbound, after Wegovy and Saxenda. The FDA granted Zepbound “fast track” status to investigate its use for adults who are overweight or obese with comorbidities, such as sleep apnea, in 2022, around the same time when weight-loss medications were beginning to rise. In April of this year, Eli Lilly stated that a late-stage study of Zepbound yielded promising results to treat sleep apnea symptoms among obese adults, which advances the perception that weight-loss drugs can be beneficial beyond weight loss. The CDC has warned in the past that sleep apnea can give people an increased risk of several cardiovascular diseases like coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and irregular heartbeats. According to the Mayo Clinic, a CPAP machine provides air pressure through a mask as one sleeps and is the most common and effective treatment for sleep apnea; however, other treatments do exist, and in severe cases or when one cannot tolerate sleeping with a mask, other treatments include surgery.
Forbes Appraisal
According to Forbes, Eli Lily has a market value of $731.8 billion, with revenues this year amounting to $35.9 billion, profits standing at $6.1 billion, and assets standing at $63.9 billion. It is, therefore ranked 174th on the list of Global 2000 firms by Forbes this year. The pharmaceutical and biotech corporation also featured at number seven in the list of Best Companies in America by Forbes for the year 2025.
